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Another aspect is the degree of confidence travellers have in the destination . “ We worked with multiple public and private stakeholders to ensure stringent and effective guidelines were put in place across the tourism and business events ecosystems ,” said Issam Kazim . “ This covers everything from the arrival into Dubai International Airport , transportation around the city and sanitisation in hotels and restaurants , to social distancing and hygiene in events venues .
“ In addition , we introduced the Dubai Assured stamp , which indicates that venues are meeting the high standards set , and the city has been awarded the Safe Travels stamp by the World Travel & Tourism Council .”
As well as delivering on the key hygiene factors , Issam Kazim sees Dubai ’ s advantage in its continued focus on innovation and economic diversification across a range of sectors , from trade , finance and logistics , through to the industries of the future , such as artificial intelligence , blockchain and 3D printing .
So , how does he view Dubai ’ s prospects for developing the ‘ E ’ in MICE , namely the exhibition subsector ?
“ Exhibitions and tradeshows are an essential part of our business events ecosystem in Dubai , and indeed have played a crucial role in the city ’ s economic growth in recent decades . Events such as Gulfood , Arab Health and GITEX have built a strong reputation over many years , while more recently the likes of AI Everything and Future Blockchain Summit have shown how , for the industries and sectors of the future , well-organised and programmed exhibitions and tradeshows can continue to play a vital role ,” Issam Kazim said .
“ These events also contribute significant numbers to our overall international visitation , providing a backbone for continued business visitor growth .”
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Riyadh on the move At the lastest edition of the Future Investment Initiative , Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that Riyadh will become one of the 10 largest city economies in the world ( currently it is number 40 ). The FII event , which attracted more than 10,000 registered attendees as well as millions more on social media , also heard that 24 multinational companies had signed up to establish their regional headquarters in Riyadh .
EW asked Chiara Palieri , a special advisor on conferences and exhibitions in Riyadh , to share a personal view on the market there , where she says there are increased levels of promotional activity for tourism . “ Governments in the MENA region have taken impressive and timely steps to contain the pandemic and gradually restart the opening of exhibitions ,” she said .
“ PEOs have majorly suffered but they have showed incredible resiliency in reinventing business models and upgrading existing events with hybrid formats ; the pandemic has ruthlessly operated a natural selection , making or breaking businesses ,” she added , but believes morale is hopeful and forward looking . “ We have all learnt to bounce back quickly and reset our modus operandi .”
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Palieri is one of the group leaders of the ETT MENA Professionals within the Exhibition Think Tank Club founded by MBB Consulting and UFI and regularly discusses the development of the exhibition industry with colleagues around the region . She said it was now fully equipped to thrive either in a physical dimension or omnichannel one .
“ Across the region , we have witnessed a solid co-operation in co-designing the new chapter of our industry and I believe we are equipped to thrive together , creating new synergies between government and the private sector ,” Palieri added , noting that , “ co-operation over competition has been the underlying pillar of this challenging time for the exhibition industry and I look forward to explore how we can join forces in the region to thrive together ”.
The optimism in the region further comes through also with the Middle East recording high hotel occupancy levels during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr . Sharjah ( 67.2 %), Doha Centre ( 65.5 %), Abu Dhabi ( 63.6 %) and Al Khobar ( 63.5 %) experienced the highest occupancy levels in the region . Jeddah ( 58.6 %) and Dubai ( 59.7 %) also showed performance improvement .
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Left : Panorama of Dubai Marina in UAE
“ Dubai ’ s advantage is in its continued focus on innovation and economic diversification across a range of sectors , from trade , finance and logistics , through to the industries of the future , such as artificial intelligence , blockchain and 3D printing .”
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